Including gender perspective in a Computer Engineering Degree

Abstract

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines the need to guarantee an inclusive and equitable quality education for all people. This means that education systems should introduce the gender debate in different areas of education, from teacher training to the definition of subject knowledge, with the purpose of changing traditional roles and gender stereotypes. Incorporating the gender perspective in teaching involves reflecting on the different elements that make up the teaching-learning process from the point of view of the sex and gender variables. But, in addition, it means understanding in what context that teaching is taught and what competences must be offered to students. This paper presents a proposal for including the gender perspective in the teaching of a Software Engineering I subject included in the Computer Engineering Degree at the University of Valencia. The results show a clear impact on students, with large differences by gender, which corroborates the persistence of the gender gap in the university field of Computer Science and opens new ways to continue working on proposals that help closing this gap.